Diablo Immortal

I started typing up this long post on how disappointed I am that Blizzard had announced Diablo Immortal, a mobile game experience, instead of a multitude of other projects (Diablo 4, Diablo II Remastered, Druid in Diablo 3?), but it started feeling pointless.

Diablo fans know that Blizzard have given them the cold shoulder more than any of their other IPs. Diablo most definitely brings in less money than World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Hearthstone despite being one of the best selling PC games of all time so maybe that’s a factor? Blizzard could have added stash tab purchases in-game years ago which would have brought in a hefty sum I would imagine, especially after seeing what Path of Exile does in the realm of micro transactions.

So what is it? Why start hyping Diablo just to release a post telling us to temper our expectations? Was it to generate hype, sell virtual tickets, and then pull back? Was the intention for a bigger announcement planned, and then pulled a few weeks before Blizzcon? Was it really just the port to the Switch? I don’t really understand how announcing a new mobile game, which looks like any other generic action mobile game, to close your opening presentation was thought of as a great idea.

Thankfully, other developers are hard at work. For action RPG’s, we have a new Torchlight coming out, a Grim Dawn expansion and GGG is always churning out quality new content for Path of Exile. The genre is alive and kicking, but the Diablo IP feels in shambles after yesterday.

We’ll get over it, like we have to every other time, but this experience just feels strange. I don’t know what Blizzard’s reaction will be to the fan base being upset. It will likely be nothing, or a half-hearted statement blaming us for not understanding.